- Robbie Basho
Infobox musical artist 2
Name = Robbie Basho
Background = khaki
Img_capt =
Birth_name = Daniel R. Robinson Jr.
Born = birth date|1940|8|30|mf=y
Origin =Baltimore , MD, U.S.
Died = death date and age|1986|2|27|1940|8|30|mf=y
Occupation = Guitarist
Label = Takoma Blue ThumbVanguard Records Windham Hill Silver Label Recordings
Years_active = 1965–1986Robbie Basho (
August 31 ,1940 -February 27 ,1986 ) was a composer, guitarist and pianist, and one of the pioneers of the acousticsteel string guitar in America. His vision was to see the steel string as a concert instrument and to create aRaga system for America. During a radio interview in 1974, promoting his album Zarthus, Robbie discussed his music in detail. He described how he had gone through a number of "periods" related to philosophy and music, includingJapan ese,Hindu , and Native American. Zarthus represented the culmination his "Persian period". Robbie asserted his wish, along withJohn Fahey andLeo Kottke , to raise the steel-string guitar to the level of a concert instrument. He acknowledged that the nylon-string guitar was suitable for "love songs", but its steel counterpart could communicate "fire". Basho credited his interest inIndian music to hearingRavi Shankar , whom he first encountered in 1962. The details of his death are unclear, with obituaries reporting it to be as a result of astroke cite news | title = Obituaries | date = March 4, 1986 | publisher =The San Francisco Chronicle ] , while some accounts report it to be as result of achiropractic neck adjustment.cite news | title = Basho's passing| url = http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/robbiebasho_forum/message/67 | date = December 20, 2007 | publisher =Yahoo! Music Groups ]Guitar style
Robbie Basho's dexterous, finger-picked guitar technique was influenced heavily by
Sarod playing, and the studies he undertook with the Indian virtuosoAli Akbar Khan . Basho employed unusualopen tuning s, including a number of variants on "Open-C" (CGCGCE) and played a 12-string guitar, in order to recreate the drone that is a notable feature of his belovedHindu music. Basho's guitar melodies were often created using Eastern modes and scales, but his work contains a broad range of noticeable influences, from EuropeanClassical Music toBlues (in his earlier period) and Ballad styles of America.Discography
* 1965 The Seal of the Blue Lotus (Takoma)
* 1966 The Grail and the Lotus (Takoma)
* 1966 Various Artists: Contemporary Guitar (Takoma)
* 1967 Basho Sings (Takoma)
* 1967 The Falconer's Arm I (Takoma)
* 1967 The Falconer's Arm II (Takoma)
* 1969 Venus in Cancer (Blue Thumb)
* 1971 Song of the Stallion (Takoma)
* 1972 The Voice of the Eagle (Vanguard)
* 1974 Zarthus (Vanguard)
* 1978 Visions of the Country (Windham Hill)
* 1979 Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 6 & 12 (Windham Hill)
* 1981 Rainbow Thunder: Songs of the American West (Silver Label Recordings )
* 1983 Bouquet , MC (Basho Productions )
* 1984 Twilight Peaks , MC (The Art of Relaxation )
* 2008 Bonn 1st Supreme, CD Live! (Bo'Weavil Recordings)References
External links
* [http://www.robbiebasho-archives.info/ Robbie Basho Archives, biography, discography, tunings, notes, articles, spotlights]
* [http://www.bluemomentarts.de/bma/rbasho/en/index.html Robbie Basho Archives + [Steffen Basho-Junghans]
* [http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/robbiebasho_forum/ Yahoo! discussion group]
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* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=69138372 Robbie Basho tribute biography & music sample]
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